Since the United Nations officially came into existence in 1945, five conferences on population have been held. However, the first ever World Population Conference was held at the Salle Centrale, Geneva, Switzerland, from 29 August to 3 September 1927. Organized by the forerunner of the United Nations, the League of Nations, and Margaret Sanger; the conference was an attempt to bring together international experts on population, food supply, fertility, migration and health to discuss the problem of human overpopulation. The conference was organized with funds donated by Sanger's husband, J. Noah Slee, as well as a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Sir. Bernard Mallet presided over the meeting, and William H. Welch was vice-president.
The World Population Conference succeeded in drawing attention to the study of population growth and established the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. British Malthusian leader Charles Vickery Drysdale noted that the meeting was "devoid of propagandism," and that the "weight of authority at it has surpassed all the previous gatherings, and has been second to none in brilliance. The simple fact that nearly two hundred persons of the highest eminence in biological, economic and statistical science, sociologists, statesmen, and physicians have come from all parts of the world to Geneva to confer on this question is sufficient to show that it cannot be disregarded and that it will have to be considered by the Governments of all countries."
is thought to be the founder of the birth control movement in the United States. She conceived the World Population Conference and organized a group of scientists including Raymond Pearl, Edward Murray East, and Clarence Cook Little, to develop the program and invite speakers. She agreed that birth control would not be discussed in order to gain broad-based support abroad. She established an office to administer the conference in Geneva, but just before the Conference was to open, Sir Bernard Mallet removed her name and the names of her all-female administrative staff from the printed conference programs, stating that administrators and clerical staff should not be listed in a scientific program. Sanger's staff quit in protest; however she was able to persuade most back, arguing that the meeting was more important than who was credited, and agreed that the program be printed without mention of the women's names. Sanger edited the Proceedings of the World Population Conference.